


If You Ain't Got That Swing

by Gothams_Only_Wolf



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1920s, F/M, M/M, Roaring 20s AU, The Great Gatsby AU, What Have I Done, What Was I Thinking?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-03 09:10:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6605092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothams_Only_Wolf/pseuds/Gothams_Only_Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Newt’s engaged to creepy ol’ Hannibal and Hermann’s the injured soldier come home. Tendo is Newt’s bestie who works atta speakeasy~</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Botanical Gardens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Key Info: Men and women can marry whoever they want as government surrogates of any gender are provided should the couple wish for children. However, equal rights aren't quite up to speed in this verse as they are in real life. Discrimination is definitely still a thing. 
> 
> Blame steampunkeplison for this! They encouraged this AU and I've been staring at it for too long. It's gotta get out of my WIP pile! 
> 
> Enjoy~

**-June 18, 1919; Port of New York-**

Master Sargeant Hermann Gottlieb stood at the railing of the H.M.S. Victory as it pulled into port. He disembarked the ship with a prominent limp, causing people to give him a wide berth as his uniform was stared at with wide eyes. He'd just been released from the hospital in Bloomsbury, London and Hermann had boarded the first steamship to America in search of Newton. 

The news he received crushed him: Newton Gieszler was now a Prospect for Mr. Chau, the King of the Kaiju black market. That meant Newton was off limits to anyone not in Chau's extremely rich circle. But word had it (via a sympathetic Tendo) that Newton still loved going to the Botanical Gardens by himself, no Mr. Chau or bodyguard in sight. Hermann hadn't bothered to change out of his uniform as he strode at a decent speed to the Gardens. 

It brought back the memory of Newton's promise and thier slow-growing affections. 

**-June 9, 1914; Botantical Gardens-**

Hermann looked up from sniffing a delicate Graham rose to see a boy with his Father and Mother, happily gushing over each plant. The boy's Mother was stately and superior but Hermann _knew_ her. That was Madame Monica Schwartz and her husband, the composer Jacob Giezler. Which meant the young adult... The young adult was Newton Gieszler, passed high school with flying colors and high praise, currently going to a prestigious college. 

Hermann wasn't even supposed to be here. He was to meet with a woman nearly a third over his own age because Father insisted on marrying him off like he had Karla and Dietrich to make him alliances. Politicians, Hermann viciously thought, were the scum of the Earth but especially when they basically sold off thier children for money with the upcoming elections. 

"Papa, may I go look at the roses?" The younger Gieszler asked and his Father nodded with a genuine smile. Hermann's heart constricted at the sight; he wished his own Father was so affectionate. "Hi." 

"... Hello." 

"I saw you hiding in the bushes. Wanna get outta here?" Newton dropped the proper accent the second he started speaking to Hermann. 

"And go where? I do not know you, much less your name." A small lie but necessary. This boy would make him do something that would get him in trouble; part of him wanted to follow without question because _adventure_ and it sounded like fun. 

"You wanna hit Chinatown? I got a friend there, he's great. Oh, right. Name's Newt." The bright smile aimed at him made Hermann a little... defensive. 

"You're an amphibian?" Hermann rose a brow at that, crossing his arms in skepticism. 

"No, no, it's my name. Nickname, really," Newt grinned and Hermann, oh, he was drawn right in. "Well?" 

"... I suppose so." 

"That's swell. C'mon, we're gonna give my folks the slip." Newt dragged him under the palm leaves as they snuck past Mr. and Mrs. Gieszler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, complain, ect. Feedback is lovely~


	2. Chinatown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter for those of you who're following~ 
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

**-June 9, 1914; Chinatown; Manhattan-**

Hermann had tucked his tie away and had unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, making him look like any other young adult running around Manhattan until they hit a street that was row after row of red lanterns. He was completely fascinated, peering up at them and realizing that they lit the streets after dark. 

"Through here. His name's Tendo an' he's half-Chinese, half-Peruvian. He used to live in California." Newt bubbled away as he navigated around the men carrying flour-sacks and saying something in Chinese to the man with a cart of food. The other boy paid two cents and handed Hermann an enormous thing with a pinched edge. 

"Eat it!" Newt encouraged. 

"What is it?" he countered as he sniffed it. 

"Meat bun. You're gonna offend him if you don't take at least a bite." The wide green eyes looked at him as Newton took an enormous bite, the juices dribbling down his chin. "'Sgood. I pwomise." 

"Very well." He took a rather small bite but the complex flavor that burst across his tongue made him squeak. "Do you know how to say that it's delicious?" 

"I do, yeah." Newton turned to the man and said something else, which earned them a fond smile and an extra meat bun. 

They scrambled around hard-working men and the incredibly rare woman until they entered a tiny shop. There was someone about thier age who was dressed casually with red suspenders and a red bowtie. The sleeves were rolled back and the other boy was smiling brightly. 

"Newt!" He hugged Newt tightly and looked over his shoulder to see Hermann. "You brought someone and didn't even bother to introduce us? Cold, my man, cold." The other boy held out his hand, the beads of the wooden rosary clicking as he shook Hermann's hand. "Tendo Choi. You are?" 

"Hermann." 

"No last name?" 

"Is it necessary?" He inquired with a leery expression. 

Tendo laughed. "Nah. Just Hermann is fine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment, complain, ect. Feedback is lovely~


End file.
